PETALING JAYA: US-based firm Ocean Infinity is keen to do another search for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft Flight MH370.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said Ocean Infinity is willing to accept another “no cure, no fee” deal similar to the one in 2018, where the government will only pay the company if it manages to find the wreckage of the flight.
MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing, China.
Ocean Infinity is a marine robotics company that deploys autonomous robots, typically in fleet formation, to obtain large amounts of data from the oceans and seabed.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Dr Wee said he held a meeting with Ocean Infinity chief executive officer Oliver Plunkett and representatives of the families of those on board MH370 at his office.
“Plunkett gave us an update on the company’s latest technology advances, human talent and capabilities compared with five years ago.“He shared Ocean Infinity’s readiness to resume the search for MH370 based on a ‘no cure, no pay’ deal, whereby payment is made only if the company finds the wreckage,” he added.
In one of the world’s biggest aviation mysteries, MH370, using a Boeing 777-200ER then, vanished with 239 people on board.
In 2018, Ocean Infinity conducted a search for the plane in the southern Indian Ocean without success.
Dr Wee reiterated that a decision to resume search operations could only be made if the governments of Malaysia, China and Australia jointly agreed to the matter.
“I have instructed my officers at the Transport Ministry to obtain further information from Ocean Infinity for deliberation before we consult the governments of Australia and China.
“We further reiterated that there must be new credible evidence before we can proceed with another search operation,” he added.
Also present at yesterday’s meeting were officers from the Transport Ministry’s Aviation Division, the Air Accident Investigation Bureau and the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia.